I have lost count on how many "new" drivers have
contacted me explaining that they have completed a truck driving course
and now have their CDL, but they cannot get hired. The reason is always
the same . . . they do not have enough experience. Many of these
drivers are not understanding the reasoning behind this before they pay
the thousands of dollars for a truck driving school.
The truck
driving schools will always tell you that you will have no problem
getting hired after you achieve your CDL. This in fact, is true to a
certain point, but what they don’t tell you is the key factor you need
to know BEFORE you enter into a truck driving school.
Laws
concerning the commercial driver have gotten very strict in the last
several years, especially after 911. New drivers are always telling me
that the company wants at least six months to a year of experience
before they can hire them. So now, they have spent thousands of dollars
for a CDL, but have no driving experience, so they cannot get hired. It
really is not the company that won’t hire them, but the problem lies
with their insurance company.
The trucking company’s insurance
carrier is actually the one that requires the six months to a year of
experience. So how can the truck driving schools claim that you will
have no problem getting hired? The answer lies with the mega trucking
companies. These giant companies offer their own “truck driving
schools” that will land you your CDL, and then you will be required to
work for them and them alone, usually riding with a “trainer” for 6-8
weeks before being allowed to “go it alone.” In addition, during all
this time, you will be at the low end of the pay scale. Also, many of
these massive trucking companies are their OWN insurance company!
Therefore, they can “bend” the rules so to speak.
If the truck
driving school tells you that you will have no problem getting hired,
asked them about the six months to a year of experience that the
insurance companies require and see what they say. Most all of these
“schools” have contracts with certain trucking companies that will hire
you after you complete your CDL course. But you can only work for them,
therefore you are stuck with that company only. If you believe you can
go to a truck driving school and immediately go anywhere and start
working locally, chances are you will be wrong. Your only choices will
be to go with the giant trucking companies working over the road, until
you can build up the experience required by the insurance companies.
There are hundreds of these trucking companies that will hire “new
grads” and get them “pushed” through on “their” insurance. The only
problem is that over the road may not have been in your plans.
Also,
keep in mind that while you are at the mercy of these giant companies,
you will be at the low end of the pay scale . . . usually around $300
per week. Thereafter, the raises will be slow coming. This is how
trucking companies can get their freight moved cheap . . . by
constantly hiring “new grads” and weeding out the drivers that are now
at the top end of the pay scale.
If your plans are to work
locally as a professional driver and you have no experience, chances
are you will have to attend a truck driving school and be forced to
work for one of the larger trucking companies as an over the road
driver. These schools provided by the trucking companies can run as
high as $4000 or more. There is a much cheaper way to go than using
these trucking company’s so-called “schools.”
Only after you
accumulate six months to a year of driving experience meeting the
criteria of the insurance companies, will you be able to go anywhere
and get a job . . . including a local one.